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I Would Hate To Be Doing PR for SeaWorld

I saw someone wrote something on SeaWorld and their mission to redirect people’s view on the documentary Black Fish. I saw this documentary over break and didn’t know what to expect. I am an ocean lover; I surf and live at the beach, well before I came to Chicago and not now but after I graduate I will return! Anyways, I was really moved by the film and I don’t know anyone who wouldn’t be. The documentary is about the treatment of Killer Whales at Seaworld. There is nothing ethical about keeping a killer anything inside a tiny pool for people to watch, it’s all about money. I can usually delegate an issue and see two sides but after watching this documentary I can’t support Sea World anymore.
From a PR point of view I can’t see how SeaWorld is going to dig itself out of this. The whole basis of their establishment is not humane towards animals so I don’t know how they can spin that. I think after Black Fish came out they realized that it is never going to go away. Celebrities cancelled events they had planned there, such as concerts. The documentary was aired on CNN and was in film festivals. I watched it through the holy grail of Netflix. It’s out there and SeaWorld knows that people are talking.
When I was babysitting I went through SeaWorld’s tweets to see if they had addressed the issue at all. Well, they definitely have. They are practically sending out spam messages to users who tweet anything about SeaWorld or Black Fish. First of all, I don’t think it looks good for SeaWorld to be throwing out words like “propaganda” and “lies”. It reminded me of kids who got caught doing something they weren’t supposed to and explaining themselves to their moms. It just sounds like they know they are wrong or in deep do-do. I was laughing out loud reading their tweets because they sounded so desperate. I am not sure how they will handle the issue and I hope people take time to see the film. I have been to SeaWorld before watching this and I had a really memorable trip but I know that if I go back now, after seeing that film, I would be supporting the treatment and captivity of wild animals for monetary gains.
This is my question for SeaWorld: How are you going to be honest with an animal and ocean lover like me? How are you going to rationalize the treatment of killer whales and their rejection of the environment you keep them in? Would you want to be kept inside a tank and taken away from your family to be made into a living puppet? Sorry I get worked up about this but it’s not right and the animals need a voice!
Have you seen Black Fish? Do you agree that Sea World’s image has completely changed? What are your thoughts?

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4 thoughts on “I Would Hate To Be Doing PR for SeaWorld”

Working any job for Sea World would be terrible right now. I have a hard time believing that they are every going to be able to move on from the Blackfish movie. Working for their PR team would be like working for a cigarette company. Everyone knows its bad, so you’re just working to advertise to those who don’t care.

I was just thinking about this the other day because of all the scandal that SeaWorld is currently facing. I would agree with the comment above in saying that working for SeaWorld’s PR team would be like working for alcohol, cigarettes or firearms companies. I hope that all of this negative publicity that SeaWorld is facing truly does make a change.

I have mixed feeling about Sea World since the documentary came out. I always felt it was unfair to hold animals captive but then again, with all the illegal hunting and pollution that is occurring, maybe places like Sea World and zoos are keeping animals somewhat safe.

I also saw that Sea World recently teamed up with Bindi Irwin to be a spokesperson for the company. This was extra poignant because the anniversary of the her father Steve Irwin’s death passed.recently. Sea World has a lot of recovering to do and in my opinion this is beyond crisis PR management.